A religious leader in a small city led a crusade against the local X-rated movie theaters, topless dance bars, and strip clubs, often leading groups of angry citizens to storm the buildings and threaten to shut them down. After a great deal of publicity, however, a newspaper published photos of the same man frequenting strip clubs and patronizing prostitutes in a neighboring state. Sigmund Freud would explain this man's behavior as an example of:

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The man's behavior of publicly denouncing strip clubs and adult entertainment while privately patronizing them himself is an example of reaction formation. Reaction formation is a defense mechanism where someone may express thoughts or feelings that are the opposite of what they secretly feel or believe, in order to alleviate anxiety or guilt. In this case, the man may have felt guilty or ashamed of his own behavior and used his public crusade as a way to overcompensate for his own feelings of guilt or shame.

A Religious Leader in a Small City Led a Crusade